Gaddafi Buried In Secret Desert Location

Former Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been buried at a secret desert location - five days after he was captured and killed.

The country's interim government said he was buried at dawn along with his son Muattassim and Abu Bakr Younis, the former defence minister.

Fighters from the Misratah brigade, who had placed the body on public display in the city, confirmed that the burial had taken place in accordance with Islamic convention.

"It was a complete funeral ceremony," brigade leader Haitham al Faqueh told Sky News.

"The bodies were washed and prayed over, it was done properly."

Al Faqueh said some of Col Gaddafi's relatives had been present at the burial along with Muslim clerics and other officials.

Wrapped in a blanket, Gaddafi's body had been laid out in a cold storage room in a shopping centre in Misratah since he was killed on Thursday.

Hundreds of people had queued to view his corpse, filing past the body while filming on their mobile phones.

The bloodied bodies of his son Muatassim and that of his former defence minister were laid alongside him.

Officials in the National Transtional Council said the deterioration of the corpses meant it was necessary to arrange the burial.

The bodies were moved late on Monday night, reportedly in a convoy guarded by anti-Gaddafi fighters.

The armed men were told to wait behind while the vehicles moved on ahead to the chosen burial site.

The interim government is determined to keep the location secret to prevent it becoming a shrine for Gaddafi loyalists or being desecrated by his opponents.

Col Gaddafi was killed on Thursday while trying to flee his hometown of Sirte after being on the run for several months.

NTC officials initially said he had been shot dead in crossfire, but mobile phone footage filmed by anti-Gaddafi fighters suggested he had been executed after being captured.

News of his burial came as it emerged 100 people had been killed in Sirte when a fuel tank exploded.

NTC commander Leith Mohammed said: "There was an enormous explosion and a huge fire. More than 100 people were killed and 50 others wounded.

"(The scene is) a heart-wrenching spectacle with dozens of charred bodies."

Meanwhile, an NTC official said Col Gaddafi's son and long-time heir apparent Saif al Islam was set to flee Libya.

"He's on the triangle of Niger and Algeria," he said.

"He's south of Ghat, the Ghat area. He was given a false Libyan passport from the area of Murzuq.

"The region is very, very difficult to monitor and encircle. The region is a desert region and it has... many, many exit routes."